Nuforce uDAC-2 Review

I think I have a new addiction.

Becoming a regular member of head-fi was bad for my wallet.

I wanted a good DAC/AMP for my desktop after having the uDAC-2 for the laptop so now I got myself a NuForce HDP !

Also im about to close a deal on some Ultrasone Hfi 2400's from a member on Head-Fi.

Almost every time I go into there for sale section I find a pair of headphones I really want

First impressions of the Icon HDP - Its freakin awesome! but having higher end equipment leads to wanting to buy more high end equipment thus the call to buy more expensive headphones now.

I want to do a review of the HDP but not sure where to post it, I guess Head-Fi.

So shiiiinny how can I resist?



This will be my first headphones in a long time without that ultra cool auto-fit feature the Audio Technica's use I think I will miss that.

 

I think I found your thread Vicious.

The strangest thing is that I only stumbled across it after googling said headphones to find some opinions and whatnot.

 

So what do you think about them?

 

Dude!! I just joined Head-Fi a month ago and i was hooked too. I spent over 30 hours reading the threads on my Graveyard shift and decided to empty my wallet and purchase a pair of Ultrasone Pro-900s for about $400
I didnt like them and sold them on Head-Fi. Make sure you listen to a pair before you buy them. I got lucky and resold them to a Canadian for $425
I honestly think they definitely werent worth the $$. Im actually happier with my AD700's. My next purchase is some Inner Ear Monitors. I like SleekAudio's stuff and might even get the JHAudio IEM's. Im not sure yet. For now the uDAC-2 and my AD700's are awesome.

 

Eventually you will end up with this pair of headphone.



<--- and a trail of used and abandoned headphones....

 

Lead Org your 100% correct. lmao
There is no stopping. I finally told myself after returning my Pro 900's that i was never spending that much money on a headphone again. For some reason every headphone I use gives me this uncomfortable warm feeling. IEM's are the only thing i can use without headaches. Even my AD700's sometimes give me headaches. But nowhere as bad as my old Ultrasone.

 

LOL Orpheus... Lets hope my cardboard box house has a power outlet for them.

I have some Logitech Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10's they are great, esp with the uDAC-2 giving them a clean signal, I hear way more accuracy with those than I do any of my headphones and the bass is really good too, but for me its the opposite I get pains wearing them too long so thats why I only use them as my on the go listening, at home I use the headphones.

Plus despite how great they sound its still that "all in your head" kind of sound the open air AD700 are the only headphones so far that give me a feeling of the sound being around me instead of inside my head so I hope the 2400's have the same effect also being open air.

 

Ive heard great things about the Ultrasone HIFi cans.
There half the price too.

 

Eventually you end up with this $100,000 home theatre setup.

 

Pfft sad all that money and not even using a HD projector

I love my setup for the money it cant be beat. Black Friday Klipsch sale like 3 years ago got a set of speakers & sub for 1/2 price, they sound great and go so loud that it will break dishes on the other side of the house if I crank it.

 

Great review Vicious, appreciate it.

Im thinking of using this instead of the SPDIF-out. Would have been sweet to have 192khz/24khz but this will do.

Every tried it on WinXP SP3? I am planning to use it simultaneously with my Delta 66 card but for output only. Also i mainly work with adobe audition and ableton.


EDIT: just realised your review here is shown on the Nuforce website. Do you have any incentives from them? I need one cheap lol

 

They asked my permission to publish my review, no incentives

But like I mentioned if you only need USB the HP version is only $99.00 and for a DAC/AMP combo like this thats really cheap.

 

Alrighty then, i ordered the HP version from Amazon. Looking forward to using it.

Hopefully i dont get that hiss issue on the Sennheisers i got

 

That hiss issue apparently can only happen on some really really sensitive headphones, or on some IEM's

You should have no worries there.

I see there is 0 reviews/feedback on the HP model @ Amazon. After you get yours you should take the honor to be the first review of it!

The HP was not even out yet when I got my uDAC-2 I think it came out like the next day after I ordered mine lol.

 

They look pretty nice. I wouldn't mind testing them to see what they are like.

 

I still may want a pair of Hfi 580's too, they are like $120 on ebay shipped, they really stand out with the 50mm drivers vs everything elses 40mm drivers.

But if the Hfi 2400 are bassy enough for me it will hold me over for a while.

At this rate I will end up with a open & closed pair of headphones from each brand at some point and just have them all hanging on my wall in order split into open/closed

 

Haha, if I had the money, I would too, lol.

I need some more headphones to add to my collection. My HD 650's are lonely.

 

Nah, you don't need another one, unless it's for travelling.

 

someone emailed me this, a DIY DAC for around 100 USD. Does anyone have any experience with this product?

First Impressions: Lovely Cube semi-DIY Amp (Lehmann Black Cube Linear Clone) - Head-Fi.org Community

 

There is another one called the GRUB that I was thinking about trying but I figured for the work/cost the uDAC just made more sense.

GrubDAC Overview

The GRUB is only a DAC though, no headphone amp.

 

i had the Lehmann Linear USB DAC and i liked the sound quality, but couldn't be bothered spending another 1200 USD for one.

Maybe i would get a uDAC HP instead, since i only need the headphone connection.

 

You got me pretty interested in the Lovely Cube now, but alas with the Nuforce HDP I have no need for it and really no budget for it.

Close to $230 for everything (board, case, transformer), about $150.00 just for the transformer and finished board if you can make or get your own case for it. The case really adds a lot to the cost.

One thing about the Lovely Cube is its only an AMP its not a DAC/AMP so you still need to spend another $80+ for a decent DAC to pair with it.

its definitly not optimal for a portable setup like the uDAC is, its more for an enthusiast desktop/entertianment system.

 

okay, thanks i didn't know about all the extra stuffs you have to include with the lovely cube. Maybe i would save up and get the Lehmann one again or just the uDAC that you got.

Cheers for that.

 

Lovely Cube is great price for what it is, its much larger, and more powerful than the uDAC but unless you are getting some 600ohm headphones the uDAC-2 has a pretty good amp that will power up to 300ohm.

Id play it safe and consider it strong enough for up to 200ohm just in case you like to listen louder than normal.

Both my AD700 and A700 are pretty low impedance so I cant really test the "power" of the uDAC. I get my Ultrasone Hfi 2400 today though and I think they are 75ohm so a bit harder to drive. I will post sound impressions and if they feel harder to drive here on this thread after I got some listening time.

Also the "hiss" issue that some people were mentioning. Nobody was kind enough to mention this is a very common problem in all amps until you get to a certian price point where you can adjust the gain. I have been reading up on it and there are amps that cost 2 or 3x more that exibit the "hiss" issue on sensitive IEM & Headphones. However it seems the owners of these more expensive amps accept the issue and know its by design, while people talking about the uDAC are talking about it like its a defect.

Just google "hiss sensitive amp" something like that and you fill find plenty of material.

 

i am willing to live with the hiss sound if it is not too bad.... i mean if i pay 200 dollars for the device, i can't really expect it to perform like a 1000 dollars plus device.

 

Recieved it today, No hiss even at full crank.

Sounds pretty good.

USB cable they gave me was only a few inches long...

 

Yeah the XP one is a short cable, the regular uDAC-2 is like a few feet long.

I actually want a shorter cable like the one the XP comes with.

I noticed it also has a different volume pot than the regular uDAC-2 but that should not really do anything for sound quality.

I have mine running right now next to me playing pink noise to burn in my Ultrasone Hfi 2400's

So whats the level of "pretty good"? do you feel its only a bit better than your onboard or did you find it to be a lot better as I did?

Be sure to do lots of back and forth listening with different types of music

For me I found the bass heavy music was most effected, it was crisp and clear on the uDAC but kinda muddy and distorted with onboard.

 

I found the music to be much better and crisper compared to onboard, I only tried it on old sennheisers so far as my new ones hasnt arrived yet. Ill try it on my IEM next and tune the winamp EQ a little.

Not bad for its price and size. Tomorrow I will compare it with my M-Audio Delta 66 Pro card which is also set to 96khz 24bit

 

@flipfire where did you get your uDAC from? is it from ebay or some other retail sources in Australia?

 

I couldnt find it locally so i ordered it from Amazon US. It totaled to about $123US delivered to Sydney. Took less than a week to arrive.

The AU dollar was slightly stronger than the US dollar last Thursday so i decided to get it. I also had a $40 amazon gift card Techtarget gave me so it turned out to be a great deal.

 

Thanks for the review. I was trying to decide between this and the E7. Went ahead and bought the uDAC-2-HP and I'm not disappointed. I was previously using a cmoyBB amp to the phone-out on my Envy 14, which was okay, but the uDAC-2 is much much better.

I only have my Shure SE530 IEM's with me right now, so I won't be able to test it with my Sennheiser 595 cans until next week.

There is a only a slight amount of hiss above the 50% mark on the volume knob with the very sensitive SE530 IEMs, but I normally have it at 10-20%. 50% would blow out my eardrums for sure, so it's not an issue at all. It's completely 'black' at normal listening levels. Resolution is much higher. This sounds clean, whereas onboard+amp is pretty muddy in comparison.

 

Cool glad to see another uDAC-2 user.

I really like mine, no regrets with that purchase.

 

Yes its not bad for $100

Hiss is normal for IEM's as they sensitive enough to pick up any noise from the source line. The hiss on the uDAC-2 is actually pretty good compared to others. The hiss on mine stays nearly the same until about 90% turn.

Using a USB cable with a ferrite bead will help reduce EMI and RFI interferences. Also keeping the USB cable and unit as far away from other cables and electronics might help.

 

Btw any of you notice some channel imbalance? Ive tried different headphones but the right sounds louder than the left channel.

 

Nope, none on mine at any volume. If you know for sure yours has that it would warrant a RMA replacement.

 

Never mind.. upon looking closer at the Windows sound screen, the slider was a tiny notch to the right!

Phew.. thought it was a dud

 

Heh, well glad you figured that out.

 

Dear flipfire,

I was thinking of buying udac-2, and trying to find out if it works well with Linux. Some people on the internet have complained that 24-bit DACs do not work for them. I've noticed that you have kubuntu on your laptop. Did you try using the udac-2 with it?

BTW, nice review, Vicious!

 

Hi, after reading the thread im really interested with the uDAC-2, but how does a DAC compare to a sound card like this, in terms of music quality?

And also is there any benefit in gaming when using the DAC as compared with the claimed gaming benefits of the creative sound card?

 

Id have to wait till Monday to try it out as that notebook is currently in the office.

Id say the same in terms of SQ but the Xfi doesnt have a powerful amplifier so it might not be able to drive good headphones to its full potential.

The Xfi does have EAX and special effects which might help give better positional/directional audio for gaming. (not that ive ever tried it)

 

I'm still torn between whether the uDac-2 I got for christmas is an upgrade or a downgrade from my X-FI Titanium (desktop).

The sound stage sounds much more squished on the uDac-2 and it doesn't really sound as detailed.

I am using Senn's HD595's.

 

Okay i just tried it and it works just fine. It will show up as a 'USB Audio'.

 

Great! I'll get one as well. Thanks a lot!

 

Sorry if this was already asked before but I have a special case as I already own a uDAC 2 HP.

I'm using it on a G73JH-X1 laptop and mostly only gaming with some music listening and rarely movie watching. I use Sennheiser 350 headphones. I know they are not exactly audiophile headphones but better than average gaming headphones out there.

My problem is I don't know if I am really gaining anything from the uDAC 2 atm. Maybe I don't have enough experience with audio and SQ but I find it difficult to tell the difference from onboard and the uDAC when gaming. I haven't really tested them for music or movies but I don't mind either as I'm more concerned for gaming.

Also with onboard I have an EQ that I can tune to make the sounds from gaming more "oomph". Without the EQ settings on the uDAC sounds in games don't sound as "oomphy" (is that a word?!)

I have until the 31st of January to return the uDAC 2 so I'm still on the fence if I should go without it or keep it. Are there any settings I should be aware of that maybe I haven't enabled or tweaked? Appreciate any feedback and your review convinced me to purchase a headphone amp in the first place Vicious.

 

It boils down to a matter of taste, if you can't notice a difference then it's obviously not worth it. The on board audio might be good enough for the 350's.

The uDAC is meant mainly for music listening so there's no EQ. Most music listeners don't EQ their music since it's supposed to sound 'true' to the original recording. The whole goal of audiophile listening is to have it sound as if the band is playing in front of you, and speaker audio reproduction is only a technicality. In gaming it really doesn't make a difference at all since there is really no baseline.

 

Somebody in these forums just suggested I pick one of these up for my new laptop. I just bought Reason Record Duo, and so I need a proper sound card / audio interface. I also have Pioneer HDJ-1000 (the new, special edition) headphones. I need a unit that has good ASIO support and a good headphone amp, as well as 24/96. I would like at least one input also. Honestly, the only thing that I have found so far that satisfies me completely is the M-Audio Fast Track Pro, but it's also three hundred bucks. I wish this thing was 24/96...

 

The uDAC -2 (note the 2) is 24bit/96kHz.

 

Thank you Akari for the info, really helps out! I think I'll test it out a bit more before I make a final decision.

One concern I have is that the 350's have 150 impedance and according to a person on amazon who purchased them, they did not sound right on just onboard sound because of the 150 impendance. They said that after they used the headphones on a headphone amp did it sound right.

Does that sound right?

 

On board laptop sound? An expensive enough laptop might have higher quality on board audio quality than a desktop. Maybe the laptop you have has no problem with the impedance.

Again, if you don't notice a difference between the two then obviously it's not worth the money.

 

Ok I'm keeping it

After testing them more properly I can definitely tell a difference. I know I'm about to make myself sound stupid but I've been mostly playing WoW with the uDAC. That game isn't exactly a good candidate for testing the uDAC 2 in gaming.

I fired up some Battlefield Bad Company 2 and started out with the uDAC 2 first. Sounded amazing but wasn't sure if the uDAC had any part of that. So I tried onboard and the difference was more obvious. It just sounded more plain, weak even, in comparison. I was surprised how much deeper it made the bass of explosions sound on the uDAC. I could even hear better detail like distant gun fire and ambient noises like wind hitting trees.

Appreciate the input Akari. Now I kind of want to look into maybe getting more audiophile headphones instead to see if that makes it an even better overall experience.